Kaldenkirchen

Geschichte

Kaldenkirchen is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany, situated close to the Dutch border at Venlo. It is part of the municipality of Nettetal.HistoryThe earliest reference to “Caldenkirken” appears in a document dated 1206.Until 1794 the city belonged to the Duchy of Jülich. After the Congress of Vienna in 1814 Kaldenkirchen lay within the borders of Prussia. In In 1856 King Frederick William IV of Prussia permitted the use of “town” for this city. 1903 the German Emperor Wilhelm II permitted the city arms.The synagogue was destroyed during the Kristallnacht. The city was evacuated during the last weeks of the Second World War. In 1947 a fire destroyed 90% of the surrounding forest.In 1961 Kaldenkirchen had a population of 6305, 23% of whom were refugees. On 1 January 1970 Kaldenkirchen became part of the newly founded city of Nettetal.Families from Kaldenkirchen were among the earliest emigrants to Pennsylvania. In 1683 thirteen German families emigrated on the ship Concord sailing from Rotterdam to Philadelphia. These families were members of the Religious Society of Friends (aka "Quakers") and Mennonites. Most were from the town of Krefeld, but some were from Kaldenkirchen. These thirteen families founded Germantown. Subsequent emigrants from Kaldenkirchen to Germantown included Paulus and Gertrude Kuster, the great-great-great-great-grandparents of U.S. Army colonel George Armstrong Custer.